Normal Damon Medius behavior?

rbourette

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 12, 2014
Messages
8
Recently got a pair of adult Damon Medius from Strictly Reptiles, unfortunately they weren't packaged too well and it appears FedEx didn't do a very good job handling the package, the smaller of the two (female I think) was in pretty rough shape and sadly ended up dying the other night. Despite having half of one of its whips missing, the male appears to be doing much better, already having eaten 2 medium sized crickets.

These being my first Amblypygi, I'm not too familiar with what is considered "normal" behavior for them, so I've been quite paranoid about the male's health and behavior. I've noticed it's quite active at night, which makes sense due to them being a nocturnal species, and not moving around too much during the day. What has me a tad bit worried is that I've noticed it's been sitting quite low to the ground today, knowing they're an arboreal species this has me pretty anxious. I've attached some photos to show what I'm referring to (I apologize for the poor quality).
image.jpg

For some background; I have it housed in a large vertical enclosure with two large pieces of cork bark standing vertically, substrate is moist coco fiber, and I've been doing my best to keep humidity in the 65-75% range by misting frequently. Located in Florida so temperatures are currently around 70+.

Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated!
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,229
Sorry for the shipping problems and the death of one of your amblypygi! I hope the remaining one fares better. The damaged whip can regrow with subsequent molts - and meanwhile, as you've already seen, he is still capable of finding and catching food.

Don't worry about him hanging out near the bottom of the cage - mine do that all the time. That is usually the darkest and most humid part of the enclosure, so it makes him feel more comfortable, protected and secure. Being up near the top - in a cage with angled cork bark slabs for decor/climbing/molting surfaces - can leave him feeling exposed or vulnerable because there is more open space and more light. What he'd really like is a small, dark spot to hide away - like inside a cork tube or between two slabs of cork that are stacked together, with just a narrow gap between them. (Are your cork slabs stacked, or standing separately in the enclosure?) In the wild, they wedge themselves into similar crevices or other small gaps during the daytime (and retreat to these spots at night, if they feel threatened.) Heck, I've even had a few make little scrapes in the substrate at the base of the cork slab and hang out in those.
 

rbourette

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 12, 2014
Messages
8
Sorry for the shipping problems and the death of one of your amblypygi! I hope the remaining one fares better. The damaged whip can regrow with subsequent molts - and meanwhile, as you've already seen, he is still capable of finding and catching food.

Don't worry about him hanging out near the bottom of the cage - mine do that all the time. That is usually the darkest and most humid part of the enclosure, so it makes him feel more comfortable, protected and secure. Being up near the top - in a cage with angled cork bark slabs for decor/climbing/molting surfaces - can leave him feeling exposed or vulnerable because there is more open space and more light. What he'd really like is a small, dark spot to hide away - like inside a cork tube or between two slabs of cork that are stacked together, with just a narrow gap between them. (Are your cork slabs stacked, or standing separately in the enclosure?) In the wild, they wedge themselves into similar crevices or other small gaps during the daytime (and retreat to these spots at night, if they feel threatened.) Heck, I've even had a few make little scrapes in the substrate at the base of the cork slab and hang out in those.
Thank you so much for the advice! Thankfully Strictly Reptiles is sending me a replacement so he'll have some company real soon.
Happy to hear him being so low near to the substrate is normal, I was afraid he was weak or something along those lines. I think I'll make some changes to the enclosure, adding some more hiding spots for them to hide, due to my cork slabs currently being standing separately. I'll post some pics of the enclosure to give you an idea of what he's been working with. enc.jpg enc 2.jpg

He definitely spends most of the time during the day hidden on the back side of the cork bark, and then ventures out to explore quite a bit at night. I should also mention that I've been putting a small sheet over the majority of the enclosure during the day (not covering up any ventilation holes) to keep the enclosure darker.
 
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